Dr. Fishel talked about the importance of story-telling at the dinner table at the 92Y’s annual parenting conference on April 17, 2016. The conference was entitled, “Parenting: What you Bring to the Table,” and also featured Drs. Michael Thompson and Kyle Pruett, as well as the actor Hank Azaria on fatherhood.

She was featured in a Q and A in New York Family about her talk: http://www.newyorkfamily.com/why-family-dinners-are-so-important/

Susan Newman, PhD., has posted a review of Home for Dinner on Psychology Today. She begins:

What to make for dinner? “What will the kids eat?” What a drag. And, given everyone’s packed schedules, how do we make time for dinner and make it interesting and fun?

Way too often, I believed I had made a stellar meal only to be met with grimaces, “Mom, you know I don’t eat that.” One of my daughters was adamant that a stack of Oreo cookies was the ideal meal. That same daughter now reports getting “payback” for all the times she turned up her nose at the dishes I put in front of her. My granddaughter refuses to eat or try the foods my daughter prepares….

As Earth Day approaches, I’d love to see families embracing dinner talk about garbage. Wasted food – uneaten on our plates, rotting in the refrigerator, thrown out by supermarkets, abandoned on farms because it’s “ugly” – is a topic that can spark lively conversation and lead to activism.

My well-intentioned mother used to try to coax me to “clean my plate,” by reminding me that there were starving children in Africa. This is not the best way to get the conversation going at your table! First of all, the advice to join the “clean plate club” is ill-advised: it may mean that children overeat, rather than paying attention to when they feel full. And, unless you are prepared to send uneaten food to needy people, the connection between your child’s plate and starving children far away is pretty shaky.

So, here’s a better way…

See Dr. Fishel’s tips on helping your family to better understand the impact of food waste on the environment, plus 8 smart ways to take action at the dinner table, on The Family Dinner Project.

You can now pre-order the new book by Anne Fishel, Home For Dinner, Mixing Food, Fun, and Conversation for a Happier Family and Healthier Kids.

It will be published by Amacom in January 2015. According to the publisher’s website:

“Kids need more than food. They’re starving for family dinners.

Sports, activities, long hours, and commutes—with so much to do, dinner has been bumped to the back burner.

But research shows that family dinners offer more than just nutrition. Studies have tied shared meals to increased resiliency and self-esteem in children, higher academic achievement, a healthier relationship to food, and even reduced risk of substance abuse and eating disorders.

Written by a Harvard Medical School professor and mother, Home for Dinner makes a passionate and informed plea to put mealtime back at the center of family life and supplies compelling evidence and realistic tips for getting even the busiest of families back to the table.”

Read the full overview on the Amacom website, and be sure to check our Events page for in-person book readings, signings, and lectures by Dr. Fishel at a location near you.